Better picture on a LCD HDTV?

[cheleen]

We just recently got a LCD HDTV. We have digital cable, but no digital cable box on the new TV. Would the picture be noticibly clearer if we bought an extra digital cable box to connect to it? The HD boxes are a little too pricey for the moment, but the digital boxes are on sale quite cheap (around $60 after taxes). Just wondering if a digital box would make a noticable difference in the picture quality.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[itsyours]

We just recently got a LCD HDTV. We have digital cable, but no digital cable box on the new TV. Would the picture be noticibly clearer if we bought an extra digital cable box to connect to it? The HD boxes are a little too pricey for the moment, but the digital boxes are on sale quite cheap (around $60 after taxes). Just wondering if a digital box would make a noticable difference in the picture quality.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I don't think so. If your analog signal is clean (doesn't have interference, noises) it will be the same picture quality on a HDTV.
If you bought the standard digital box, the signals your TV receive are analog in both cases.
If you bought an HD box, the signal goes to feed the TV will be digital if you connect digital output (cable box: DVI, HDMI) to digital input (TV: DVI, HDMI) but still the image quality won't improve with standard programs.
In short, subscription to HD programs is the only way to improve PQ on an HDTV. Otherwise, stay with the cheapest way (extra $0) to get signals.
Having said so, you can try to switch the box to your new TV because if the turners in your older CRT TV and old cable box are better than the one included in your new TV (most of the NTSC turners in newer HDTVs are not good) switching will improve PQ on your new HDTV meanwhile it won't degrade the PQ on your older TV.

[stevethewheel]

You won't see that big a difference if you just use a digital box. The real jump is in HDTV.

A regular digital box just converts the signal to analog before feeding it to your screen anyway so you are basically watching regular TV with a little bit cleaner signal. You will notice the cleaner signal, but the image quality won't be noticeably better.

On the off chance that you already have a box in your home attached to another TV (even a tube TV) you can try it for yourself and see.

[dunderwood]

I agree with SteveAtThewheel

Once I added my HD Digital receiver and XBox 360 (plays my DVD and HD DVD) I rarely ever venture down to the analog channels or non HD digital channels.

The difference is substantial.

Even the digital ones appear in the 4:3 aspect unless you stretch. But then stretched everythings looks wide.

I purchased my HD PVR receiver through Ebay and had my local cable company program it for $40. You have to make sure the model you get is 100% compatible with your cable provider. It has already paid for itself since my Cable provider wanted $24 a month rental.

Once you go HD it's hard to go back and 100% worth it.
All the big 2007 prime time shows are HD these days and come with surround sound.

If you have a gamer in the family look at both the XBox 360 and Sony PS3 since the Wii doesn't cut it on the HD screen.

[cheleen]

Thank you so much for all your advice! I really do appreciate it!

Just a question about the games systems..... I have a Wii in the closet for my daughter for Christmas. Is it not going to work on the big TV? There is many different settings for the screen size on it, example.... 16:1, Zoom 1 (which makes things look normal on regular shows, not wide and fat), Zoom 2, Wide Fit and 4:3. Would the Wii be ok on one of these screen size settings?

Thanks again for the help and advice!

I agree with SteveAtThewheel

Once I added my HD Digital receiver and XBox 360 (plays my DVD and HD DVD) I rarely ever venture down to the analog channels or non HD digital channels.

The difference is substantial.

Even the digital ones appear in the 4:3 aspect unless you stretch. But then stretched everythings looks wide.

I purchased my HD PVR receiver through Ebay and had my local cable company program it for $40. You have to make sure the model you get is 100% compatible with your cable provider. It has already paid for itself since my Cable provider wanted $24 a month rental.

Once you go HD it's hard to go back and 100% worth it.
All the big 2007 prime time shows are HD these days and come with surround sound.

If you have a gamer in the family look at both the XBox 360 and Sony PS3 since the Wii doesn't cut it on the HD screen.

[dunderwood]

I have both the Wii and the 360 (The wii60)

There is nothing stopping you but the Wii on HD screen is a big dissappointment. I found it messes up the hand pointer position when running in stretched mode. I ended up placing it on our older 32" SD TV for the kids.

I also got nervous with the kids swinging the remote at the HD screen. They got it but had a few close calls with nephews and friends. It worked out well on the older TV.

Try it but I think you will find the SD TV is the better choice in the end.